Why is watts used as a measure of light

On the other hand, Watts measure the required amount of energy necessary for operating a light source. The advent of LED technology which is more energy efficient has changed the lighting landscape.

It has rendered the use of conventional bulbs meaningless. This does not allow for the different efficiency in conventional types of lights i. This is why light output should be measured in Lumens and not watts. Thus, the energy industry is now opting to use a more stable as well as widely-accurate unit to measure light intensity commonly known as Lumens.

The light output is measured in lumens. The wattage used is not directly related to the lumen output. Some fixtures have a higher efficacy. This means that the technology generates more lumens per watt. An efficient fixture will put out more lumens per watt LPW than an inefficient fixture. Shop Wall Packs. This is really relevant for any organization, property owner, architect, or electrician. Also, a higher LPW ratio reduces the heat generated to produce the light.

HVAC loads are affected by lighting loads. Every watt of power used by your lighting system generates 3. More wattage means more heat; the HVAC must compensate for that heat.

While LPW is important, it is not the only consideration. Maintenance of the lighting, light quality, and the application of the area being lit must also be taken into consideration.

Still, an efficient lighting system will deliver quick payback to your organization. If you are not sure what fixtures to use for your project, the staff at Access Fixtures will be glad to help you select the right lighting fixtures. Shop Bollard Lights. This is not an indicator of how bright the bulb is, necessarily.

If you are looking to determine how much light a bulb will provide, look to lumens, not watts. A lumen is the direct measurement of light output. The amount of lumens can tell you the degree of brightness, regardless of whether it is emitted from an incandescent, halogen, or energy-efficient LED bulb. Want to know how efficient your bulb is at giving you the light you need?

Look to how many lumens you get for each watt. But, as stated earlier, this is becoming a much less reliable indicator as time marches on. The belief that a watt bulb must be twice as bright as a 50 watt bulb has been our traditional purchasing criterion for many years, however, the reality of the situation is that the former merely sucks up more power than the latter and, in the case of LEDs vs Incandescent bulbs, for little or no payback.

The effectiveness of a bulb can be expressed by its lumen-to-watt ratio or, in other words, the number of lumens it produces for each watt consumed. The rate at which light bulbs convert watts into lumens varies considerably between different technologies. Bulbs that produce more lumens-per-watt are a great deal less expensive to run, as they generate more light for less power.